Month: February 2015

I’m listening to Spotify as I work — I’m a late discoverer of this awesome app — and instead of focusing on the post offices I need to visit for a book we’re doing, I keep thinking of movies I’d like to make, stories for film that I’d like to write to match whatever is playing on my phone. Weird, because I’ve never written a script before. And yet I have all these scenes in my head. There’s one where this person’s walking, just walking, and this song by Susie Suh is playing in the background. There’s a story in my head, and oh how I’d love it if it would just put itself together while I work on projects that pay my bills. But it won’t. I’ll just have to reimagine the possibilities that come with the sense of being lost. Advertisements

Once in a while, we find surprising things in our own backyards. Digging up a bit around my own — the Philippines — I stumbled upon some superb finds that made me want to dig into my own wallet and hand over money to these people, who not only make great products but do good things for other people. Check them out. 1) The Tannery Manila (www.thetannerymanila.com) Good, authentic leather is hard to find. So when you stumble on something like The Tannery Manila, you start saving up for a piece. The leather goods store is owned and run by the Hermoso family of Meycauayan, Bulacan, which used to be the center of Philippine leather-making. The Hermosos were among the pioneers of the industry, having started in 1901. In 2014, sisters Mariel and Macy Lazaro, fourth-generation Hermosos, launched The Tannery Manila, their own brand of beautifully designed, handcrafted leather products. Their bags are the bestsellers, easily as good-looking as the big-brand leather purses Hollywood celebrities carry around. The Tannery Manila exports their products to Germany and …